Bantam Hockey Drills

If you are a Bantam coach looking to give your players a good skate, challenge them, and also run a few fun hockey drills then you are in luck. I have found a number of great hockey drills put together by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association. These are all available in PDF (download link at bottom of post) but I have also broken them down to be viewed online.

Drill Time	Drill Description
8 minute	Reverse A-B-C-D Drill
O1 skates to centre ice O2 leads O1 with timing pass O1 Accelerates onto puck, drives around pylon or coach applying pressure to shoot O1 continues in front of net to opposite line O2 now skates to get pass from O1 To encourage players to chase rebounds and drive net after shooting you can have them continue driving to net and tapping the post with their stick after each shot.
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a simple overspeed drill that will help the players push their comfort limit and work on their edge control.

Drill Time	Drill Description
6	Crossover Snake
Crossovers around pylons Continuous Crossovers, no forward striding Add pucks and repeat the pattern A good way to challenge the players is to tell them they are not getting pucks until they skate the pylons with proper technique. This means continuous crossovers, no straight lines (all crossovers), controlling the stick around pylons, two hands on stick, lead with head and stick around the pylon, don’t let the stick go over top of the pylon, use both feet in the turn for maximum control (no dragging the feet), etc
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a good drill to help defense work on slapshots from the point and reinforce forwards to drive the net. Use this drill to teach the forwards to activate their defense. Coaches can apply some pressure in the passing lanes to the slot to show when forwards should be using defense and give the players some pressure when driving the net.

Drill Time	Drill Description
6	Bantam Goalie Drill – Telescoping
O1 Passes to O2 O2 drags to the middle, taking a slapshot on goal O1 moves to the net for a rebound After the play, O1 and O2 race to the opposite lines, alternate sides
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a fun drill that can be used to work on certain situations. The coach can reinforce coverage in front of the net, battling in corners, puck support, watching the slot, communication between defense, etc

Drill Time	Drill Description
7	Zone Games
Coach spots a puck and calls 2, 3, or 4 players Players from each team enter for 45 second game Coach whistles to clear the zone; next group is ready to go
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a good high intensity drill to work on back checking, break outs and offensive zone entry

Drill Time	Drill Description
8 minutes	Hound back 3 on 0
O1, O2, O3 hound back to defensive zone O4, O5, O6 pass to O1, O2, O3 O1, O2, O3 breakout 3 on 0 with speed and variety Variety of team tactics through neutral zone Attack G1 using Principles of Attack
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is basically a shootout with consequences, the consequence is not quite clear in the description, you can make your own.

Drill Time	Drill Description
8	4 corner Place your bet
1 vs 0 Scoring team receives a point Non scoring team skates over Alternate sides for shooting
Hockey Drill Diagram

This one is a bit complex, but a great drill to work on shooting, skating, and timing the passes. Once the players get it they will move well in this drill

Drill Time	Drill Description
8 minutes	Swing Drill
O1 begins the first repetition only, with a shot on goal After the shooter releases, retrieve a loose puck from the corner and pass to O2 swinging below the circle O2 take 2 or 3 steps and then passes to O3 who swings from mid ice to the outside lane Players advance to the next line
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a nice drill for offensive zone entry and breakouts. The diagram is not too clear so you will have to use your imagination a bit when thinking up the drill.

Drill Time	Drill Description
8 minutes	3 on 3 / 3 on 1 / 3 on 2
O1, O2, O3 attack 3 on 0 After play, O’s regroup with pass from O2 and go back 3 on 1 vs ▲1 After the play O’s regroup with pass from O4 and attack 3 on 2 vs ▲2 and ▲3 O1, O2, O3 go next
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a nice passing and shooting drill for the defense and forwards

Drill Time	Drill Description
8	1 on 1 Transition
▲1 receives pass from O1 Drags to middle and shoots O1 skates to net for screen or deflection Coach spots puck in the neutral zone ▲1 retrieves loose puck, passes to O1 for shot on goal Alternate sides at start, then both sides together Add a 2nd ▲ to play 1 on 1 low and 1 on 1 attack
Hockey Drill Diagram

I like stations to keep a lot of players active at once. You will need enough coaches to run each station

Drill Time	Drill Description
8	Powerplay Skills Stations
O2 give and go with O1 O2 Passes to O1, attack net 02 executes give and go with 01, 03 passes to 01 for low forward walk out △1 drags puck to middle and shoots △1 retrieves puck, passes to △2, shoots on net
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a simple drill that players like. Each player gets to work on their shot, while the goalie can work on angling.

Drill Time	Drill Description
7 minutes	Goalie drill – 5 shots
01 and 02 execute low walk-outs 03 and 04 take slap shots 05 executes in tight breakaway keep rotating positions Reinforce hitting the net from the blue line, and quick release from in close
Hockey Drill Diagram

Players like this drill and it will help them be stronger on their feet and use their weight more

Drill Time	Drill Description
5 Minutes	Sumo Agility
Without sticks, players battle 1 on 1 in a circle with arms crossed A winner is declared when an opponent leaves the circle, falls, or touches the ice with a hand or knee Teach power stance and contact preparation. Coach should monitor safety, can be done in a tournament format
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is another fun shooting drill with some defensive pressure mixed in.

Drill Time	Drill Description
10 Minutes	1 on 1 from corner with help
△1 drags puck to center, shoots on goal O1 skates to the corner and retrieves a loose puck O1 plays 1 on 1 against △1 If O1 cannot penetrate to the net, O1 returns puck to the corner and calls for “help” O2 joins for 2 on 1 play
Hockey Drill Diagram

A good high tempo drill for defense and forwards. Forwards can drive the net, or go for the wraparound

Drill Time	Drill Description
7 Minutes	Net Drive 1 on 1
O1 Carries the puck around both pylons and drives to the net △1 leaves at the same time and must go between the pylons and then skate backwards O1 must drive to the outside Teach quick feet, crossovers, transition skating and puck protection
Hockey Drill Diagram

This is a great drill for the defense to work on coverage and support in the defensive zone.

Drill Time	Drill Description
8 Minutes	2 on 2
△1, △2 start and return to front of net for each play O’s pair up in 3 different locations Coach passes to any pair of O’s, attack 2 on 2 vs △’s △1 and △2 play all three 2 on 2’s G2 plays wrap around and point shots with other players
Hockey Drill Diagram

I hope you can work some of these drills into your next practice. If you are looking for more drills and coaching resources take a look at my ultimate coaches resource guide.

If you want more than just a few drills I highly recommend the Weiss Tech Hockey drillbook and Systems book. There is a lot of great information in the e-books about systems, and the drillbook has lots of drills to enforce the systems.